Rethinking Traditional Web Interaction: Theory and Implementation

Abstract—In recent years, Web sites evolved into ever more complex distributed applications. But current Web programming tools are not fully adapted to this evolution, and force programmers to worry about too many inessential details. We want to define an alternative programming style better fitted to that kind of applications. To do that, we propose an analysis of Web interaction in order to break it down into very elementary notions, based on semantic criteria instead of technological ones. This allows defining a common vernacular language to describe the concepts of current Web programming tools, but also some other new concepts. We propose to use these new concepts to create new frameworks for programming Web applications. This results in a significant gain of expressiveness. The understanding and separation of these notions also makes it possible to get strong static guarantees, that can help a lot during the development of complex applications, for example by making impossible the creation of broken links. We show how most of the ideas we propose have been implemented in the Ocsigen Web programming framework. Ocsigen makes possible to write a client-server Web applications as a single program and the interaction model we propose is fully compatible with this kind of applications. Keywords–Typing; Web interaction; Functional Web programming; Continuation

Исследование стоимости и трудоёмкости разработки программного обеспечения для решения задачи управления запасами предприятия

The article describes the process of estimating the cost and complexity of software development for the task of inventory management of a commercial enterprise to improve the decision-making process at the stage of formation of requirements for similar software products. There are different approaches to inventory management of a commercial enterprise. The algorithms implemented in the system are based on the constraint theory tool –dynamic inventory buffer management. Inventory management according to the theory of restrictions allows to provide a high level of availability of goods with minimal inventory in the system. After analyzing the subject area of inventory management and the methodology of dynamic inventory buffer management, a list of functional and non-functional software requirements was formed, and a data model was designed. The information obtained was used to compile a list of logical files and transactions specific to a particular requirement. From the resulting list of files and transactions, it is determined which elementary data, elementary records and links to files they consist of. The information obtained was used to estimate the size of the software at non-aligned functional points. To take into account the impact of non-functional requirements on the complexity of software development, the VAF alignment factor was calculated, for which it is necessary to give a qualitative assessment of the impact of system-wide requirements on the complexity of the software. The estimation of the complexity of the development was obtained using the COCOMO II methodology, namely, using seven multipliers of the complexity for the case of the initial assessment at the stage of approval of requirements. The calculations were obtained for teams with different professional level and equipment, in the conditions of a significant tightening of the development process, a high level of certainty of risks, without a rigid schedule of work. The cost of development was calculated for several common programming languages: J2EE, C#, C++.В статье описывается процесс оценки стоимости и трудоемкости разработки программного обеспечения задачи управления запасами торгового предприятия для улучшения процесса принятия решений на этапе формирования требований к аналогичным программным продуктам. Существуют различные подходы к управлению запасами торгового предприятия. Алгоритмы, реализованные в системе основаны на инструменте теории ограничений – динамическом управлении буфером запасов. Управление запасами по теории ограничений позволяет обеспечить высокий уровень наличия товара при минимальных запасах в системе. Проанализировав предметную область управления запасами и методологию динамического управления буфером товарных запасов был сформирован список функциональных и нефункциональных требований к программного обеспечения, а также спроектирована модель данных. Полученная информация была использована для составления перечня логических файлов и транзакций, характерных для конкретного требования. Из полученного списка файлов и транзакций определено, из каких элементарных данных, элементарных записей и ссылок на файлы они состоят. Полученная информация была использована для оценки размера программного обеспечения в не выровненных функциональных точках. Для учета влияния нефункциональных требований на трудоемкость разработки программного обеспечения был посчитан фактор выравнивания VAF, для чего необходимо дать качественную оценку влияния общесистемных требований на трудоемкость программного обеспечения. Оценка трудоемкости разработки была получена с использованием методологии COCOMO II, а именно с использованием семи множителей трудоемкости для случая первичной оценки на этапе утверждения требований. Расчеты были получены для команд с разным профессиональным уровнем и оборудованием, в условиях значительного ужесточения процесса разработки, высоким уровнем определенности рисков, без жесткого графика работ. Стоимость разработки была рассчитана для нескольких распространенных языков программирования: J2EE, C#, C++

Evolving structure-function mappings in cognitive neuroscience using genetic programming

A challenging goal of psychology and neuroscience is to map cognitive functions onto neuroanatomical structures. This paper shows how computational methods based upon evolutionary algorithms can facilitate the search for satisfactory mappings by efficiently combining constraints from neuroanatomy and physiology (the structures) with constraints from behavioural experiments (the functions). This methodology involves creation of a database coding for known neuroanatomical and physiological constraints, for mental programs made of primitive cognitive functions, and for typical experiments with their behavioural results. The evolutionary algorithms evolve theories mapping structures to functions in order to optimize the fit with the actual data. These theories lead to new, empirically testable predictions. The role of the prefrontal cortex in humans is discussed as an example. This methodology can be applied to the study of structures or functions alone, and can also be used to study other complex systems. (This article does not exactly replicate the final version published in the Journal of Swiss Psychology. It is not a copy of the original published article and is not suitable for citation.